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Post by antonio on Jul 20, 2023 14:23:49 GMT
I'm unsure what they are Jerry, but nice to see you trying a different pair of speakers. Have they been mainly purchased to go in your 2nd system and replace the B & O's? Like the stands, I'll most probably have to use something similar when I return Cambodia in a couple of months for my JBL's.
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 20, 2023 15:31:31 GMT
Celestion UL8. I bought the stands this morning from Wilko, £9 for the two. Proppa audiophile. Yes, they're intended as a possible replacement, or maybe alternative, to the B&O CX100 in my 2nd system. They are really quite impressive. Remarkably tonally neutral, old school classic British speakers. Very nice imaging in depth as well. Enjoying them as a substitute for the MBLs, but we'll see how long they last in that role! The most obvious limitation is they don't have the sheer dynamic scale of the MBLs. They come from the same era as the Lentek amp that's driving them, late 70s early 80s.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 20, 2023 21:17:41 GMT
Amazingly cute. And small (21cm wide). 8kg. 4x el84. It sounds spectacularly good to my humble ears. Unfortunately it also hums a bit. From the chassis not through the speakers. But some sorbathane domes underneath help a lot. A bit more fiddling with supports might improve things further. It's almost quiet enough now not to bother me even in quiet parts of music. Once the music gets above pianissimo it's not an issue. Yarland FV 34c integrated. It sounds amazing. I'll figure out how to reduce the hum even further, it's not being returned.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 20, 2023 21:24:11 GMT
.... and the previously mentioned Celestion UL8 in their new home as the voice of my 2nd system. They sound great.
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Post by antonio on Aug 21, 2023 8:00:52 GMT
I've read other good things about Yarland, some of these Chinese amps have been made for years, therefore any problems they may have had, have been tweaked out. Are the B&O's now for sale, or sold, and good luck with sorting any vibration issues with the amplifier.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 21, 2023 14:31:38 GMT
I've come up with a theory that the hum is caused by the amp (230V) being unhappy with my mains (typically 257V).
Waddya reckon?
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Post by misterc on Aug 21, 2023 14:40:31 GMT
Jerry
Check you ac supply, for the last two weeks we have had a rock steady 231Vac, a freat many of the companies that I deal with have mentioned the same, so by that reckoning you should be now back down to mid 240's?
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Post by firebottle on Aug 21, 2023 15:16:16 GMT
I think a bucking transformer would be an excellent addition.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 21, 2023 15:48:56 GMT
I've come up with a theory that the hum is caused by the amp (230V) being unhappy with my mains (typically 257V). Waddya reckon? Yup, completely tallies with my experience, especially if they are actually 220v transformers, which are typically what is fitted by the Chinese.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 21, 2023 16:01:13 GMT
I think a bucking transformer would be an excellent addition. OK, so where do I get me one of those?
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Post by antonio on Aug 21, 2023 17:17:20 GMT
I think a bucking transformer would be an excellent addition. OK, so where do I get me one of those? I'll only get myself in to trouble again.
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Post by firebottle on Aug 21, 2023 19:06:27 GMT
I think a bucking transformer would be an excellent addition. OK, so where do I get me one of those? Generally I think people make them to suit. I use an external one on one of my amps and built one in to my 220V valve headphone amp. I have a transformer spare I can wire up for you to try, no case as I don't have any.
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optical
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Post by optical on Aug 22, 2023 7:38:04 GMT
Had a bucking transformer put in my Ming-Da KT88 amplifier (miss that thing actually), by Alan I think!
The Chinese transformers were designed for 220v, so whilst feeding them with 240-250v supply, they did hum and run quite warm (even for a fully valved Class A).
The bucking transformer made them pretty much silent from then on and they ran at a lower temp, although still got up to a good temp (as valve kit should!).
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 22, 2023 20:12:45 GMT
I wanted to play CDs not available streamed, but didn't want to have to get up off my arse to change discs. So in the spirit of others here dropping 4 £figures on fancy CD transports, I invested £37 in a Grouptronics DVD player off Amazon. It has a coax digital output so I can feed the 1s and 0s into my DAC dejour. Handily placed just next to my chair. The first one to arrive had a jammed disc tray. Refund on that, ordered another that arrived today. All OK with this one. And it sounds just dandy. Remote control, including volume (even on the digital output), remembers where in the CD you got to even if the CD is removed then reinserted. Well chuffed.
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Post by macca on Dec 22, 2023 20:33:28 GMT
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 22, 2023 20:39:15 GMT
Wow, £180. High End stuff.
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Post by macca on Dec 22, 2023 20:48:10 GMT
Absolutely - the buttons light up when you press them! Just about as audiophile as you can get.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 22, 2023 20:59:40 GMT
I haven't updated this blog in quite a while, so..... Current shelves of electronics... On the left a MBL 116f speaker. There's another one off picture to the right. Top left quadrant of the shelves: A&R Arcam Alpha amp. Recommended by someone on the Wam a decade ago it's been on my Curiosity List since then. It's as good as or better than any amp I've heard. I've had different but not better. Ridiculous. Fosi V3 class D amp 48V psu. 5V Lpsu for my Topping E30ii DAC. Top right quadrant: Topping E30ii. Yarland FV-34CIII el84 amp. I love it. Fixed by Alan a while back as it had developed a loud hum. This is the amp that's currently plumbed in. Fosi V3 amp. Bottom left quadrant: Power Inspired AG1500 mains regenerator. Teac AX 501 class D integrated amp. Not sure if I'm keeping it. Bottom right quadrant: Valve buffer, basically a no holds barred copy of a MF X10D. It's become an essential part of my system for well over a year now. It makes the music come alive. Weird. It also has a Stereo Coffee passive preamp onboard, but I'm not using that. I don't seem to believe in expensive electronics these days.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 22, 2023 21:03:46 GMT
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 23, 2023 4:21:38 GMT
New arrivals. AKG K340 electret / dynamic hybrid. They call the high frequency driver electrostat, but it's not. I've had these on my Curiosity list for many years, and a nicely priced pair came along on t'bay. Said to be very hard to drive, but my SMSL sApii amps are plucky little souls and they seem to be managing just fine. Very mixed reviews on line. I'm not sure what I was expecting. My initial reaction was a surprised 'Wow, these are nice". Very open sounding. They're actually a closed back design but they don't sound like it to me. Lots of subtle detailing. Quite a light tonality, I dialed in some extra bass and a treble rolloff, and I prefer them that way. Bass certainly not the last word in definition. Maybe a bit of grain in the lower treble but that varies with the eq so I expect to be able to dial most or all of it out. Quite plasticky in feel, but very light and quite comfortable. Yes, pleased so far with a fairly brief listen. They're set up now on my bedside headphone system, waiting for my usual insomniac wakeup call
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 23, 2023 5:29:15 GMT
... what a surprise, I prefer my Hifiman Edition XS planars at 4x the cost to the AKG K340.
Purer, more dynamic subtlety, fuller tonality, solider imaging.
The AKG are certainly lively, open and airy, and tbh quite a bundle of fun. Better suited to rock than classical. And unEQed they're quite a riveting, eye popping listen on the right material.
I think I do need to try them with a different amp. My Teac AX 501 is reputed to be excellent with difficult, high impedance cans. I'll wire that up soon.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 24, 2023 7:20:13 GMT
Haha! I love the hushed lack of response to my lo- and mid-fi mutterings. 😂 I'm surprised I haven't been banned.
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Post by macca on Dec 24, 2023 9:00:26 GMT
'Mid-fi' it's very American that. I think your speakers cost more than I have spent on Hi-fi in my whole life* so no need to be coy *May not be true
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Dec 24, 2023 9:14:39 GMT
Haha! I love the hushed lack of response to my lo- and mid-fi mutterings. 😂 I'm surprised I haven't been banned. I don't know anything about headphones Jerry.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 24, 2023 9:40:46 GMT
Haha! I love the hushed lack of response to my lo- and mid-fi mutterings. 😂 I'm surprised I haven't been banned. I don't know anything about headphones Jerry. I wasn't referring to my headphone musings, but to the recent immediately previous posts.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,088
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Post by Bigman80 on Dec 24, 2023 13:49:12 GMT
I haven't updated this blog in quite a while, so..... Current shelves of electronics... On the left a MBL 116f speaker. There's another one off picture to the right. Top left quadrant of the shelves: A&R Arcam Alpha amp. Recommended by someone on the Wam a decade ago it's been on my Curiosity List since then. It's as good as or better than any amp I've heard. I've had different but not better. Ridiculous. Fosi V3 class D amp 48V psu. 5V Lpsu for my Topping E30ii DAC. Top right quadrant: Topping E30ii. Yarland FV-34CIII el84 amp. I love it. Fixed by Alan a while back as it had developed a loud hum. This is the amp that's currently plumbed in. Fosi V3 amp. Bottom left quadrant: Power Inspired AG1500 mains regenerator. Teac AX 501 class D integrated amp. Not sure if I'm keeping it. Bottom right quadrant: Valve buffer, basically a no holds barred copy of a MF X10D. It's become an essential part of my system for well over a year now. It makes the music come alive. Weird. It also has a Stereo Coffee passive preamp onboard, but I'm not using that. I don't seem to believe in expensive electronics these days. This one?
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 24, 2023 14:59:03 GMT
Yes, all 4 of the amps currently available in my system cost me less than £200. And the CD transport in the post prior to that was £37 brand new.
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Arke
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Post by Arke on Dec 24, 2023 17:43:02 GMT
Yes, all 4 of the amps currently available in my system cost me less than £200. And the CD transport in the post prior to that was £37 brand new. Why 4 amps Jerry? Do they all provide different advantages depending on mood and music choice?
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 24, 2023 18:33:07 GMT
Yes, all 4 of the amps currently available in my system cost me less than £200. And the CD transport in the post prior to that was £37 brand new. Why 4 amps Jerry? Do they all provide different advantages depending on mood and music choice? Yes, they all have different presentations. I think I'm a bit different to most folks here. I'm not really after an ever-improving system. I'm genuinely curious about how different components sound. .... As long as I still enjoy the music the kit can stay a while. That does mean that many components bought out of curiosity don't stay here long. But there is little if any correlation between cost and whether I like something enough to keep it a while or not. So, yes, 4 amplifiers atm. As they are all low cost that's fine, I enjoy swapping them over every now and then. I'm sure they'll one by one take a bow and exit at some point to be replaced by whatever else takes my fancy.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 24, 2023 18:36:06 GMT
I'm enjoying the Arcam Alpha mk1 amp so much I was curious about its precursor which has a better reputation. So a new amp arrived yesterday. A very scruffy looking vintage A&R A60. But sadly it seems to have a faulty volume control. Horrible noises on turn-on, and other issues. The seller has refunded and said I should keep it! I might ask firebottle if he'll take a look at it.
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